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Trace William Cowen is a writer based in Los Angeles. He tweets with dramatic irregularity here.

Dec 01, 2017

Image via Getty/Thaddaeus McAdams

XXXTentacion's legal team submitted a document they allege includes the signature of the woman he's accused of assaulting while she was pregnant. The document is alleged to include the woman's wishes for the case to "go away," but TMZreports that Miami-Dade prosecutors doubt the validity of the signature. Because prosecutors are questioning the affidavit's authenticity, they have reportedly decided to break up the charges into two separate cases.

XXXTentacion is facing felony charges of aggravated battery of a pregnant woman, false imprisonment, domestic battery by strangulation, and witness tampering. The Florida rapper has pleaded not guilty.

According to Pitchfork, XXXTentacion is expected to first face the most serious charge: witness tampering, which is a first-degree felony. The other charges have been classified as second-degree and third-degree felonies.

"The case was reset for 12/15 for the State to sever the charges, creating two separate felony cases (one for the tampering with victim charge, and one for the original charges)," assistant state attorney Philip Harte said through a spokesperson. "Once the cases have severed, the State will proceed on the tampering with victim case first."

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Back in September, Pitchfork published excerpts from the alleged victim’s testimony. XXXTentacion is accused in the testimony of multiple acts of violence against the woman, including head-butting, punching, elbowing, strangling, and threatening to kill her and the unborn child.

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The alleged victim said she was asked to drop the case by XXXTentacion's team: "They offered me to drop charges, right, but me knowing that you can’t drop charges like that, I was like, 'Yeah, you can offer me money,'" she said in a testimony. "They were like, 'How much do you want?' And I was like '3k.' [...] "They were like, 'You need to drop the charges. And I was like, 'I’m not dropping charges, unless you pay me.' But you know, I was just being smart about it."

XXXTentation has also mocked the allegations and its press coverage in multiple social media posts. In one clip on Instagram, X claimed people were just jealous of his success. "If you want your pussy domestically abused, hit my line," he said in an Instagram Story clip in September.